Lauded by Nigella Lawson as one of the best writers on Italian food, Anna Del Conte Anna has been educating people about Italy's finest dishes for decades.

​Her books have inspired a whole generation of cooks by providing detailed information on how food is made and its provenance.

Teaching the world a thing or two about Italian cooking...

The doyenne of Italian food and cooking,
Anna has had an illustrious career.

​Now 90 years young, she can rest easy knowing that her writing will be long remembered. In 2011 she received the Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising her contribution to the world of food writing.

'Pasta knows no barriers of class or wealth.
In Italy it is a favourite with princes and peasants alike
(there such anachronisms still exist), and elsewhere in the world it may be part of a banquet or a simple supper.
Pasta knows no national barriers either.
​Although a national dish - what other food is so strongly identified with one country?' - Anna Del Conte

Image courtesy of Dorset Magazine

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The contents

This collection of 120 recipes gives a historical account of how pasta is made and of course it also includes a plethora of tasty recipes. It also highlights fun facts about pasta that you can impress your friends with - for example, Italy is the world's top consumer of the world's pasta (26%) and Japan consumes the least amount of pasta (1.7%).

Interestingly, the book also has a section on 'Pasta People', which highlights key pasta lovers throughout the ages including Sophie Loren who when asked how American women could become as attractive as the Italians, answered, 'Everything you see I owe to spaghetti'. With wit like that, how can you not love the woman?!

Know your noodles

For those of you who don't know your orecchiette from your garganelli, there is a helpful section of illustrations so you can easily identify the various pastas on offer, so you can soon become a pasta pro.

Give the gift of pasta knowledge
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This cookbook contains beautiful black and white illustrations throughout the cookbook and is covered in linen, making it a gorgeous gift for yourself or a loved one. Overall, this is amust-read cookbook for anyone who loves making Italian food.

A.A. Miln

Anna Del Conte On Pasta by Anna Del Conte is published by Pavilion Books and is available from Amazon.co.uk (£16.59 for a hardcover).